Category: Occult
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CRI Statement Ends Witchcraft Dispute
By Jerald and Sandra Tanner Most of our readers are aware of the fact that for a number of months we have been involved in a disagreement concerning the question of whether the Mormon temple ceremony came from witchcraft and Satanism. The conflict centered around William Schnoebelen, a man who participated in both witchcraft and…
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State of New York vs. Joseph Smith
By Jerald and Sandra Tanner In 1945 Fawn M. Brodie first published her book No Man Knows My History. In Appendix A of that work she included what she claimed was a “Record of the trial of Joseph Smith for disorderly conduct, Bainbridge, New York, March 20, 1826” (1971 edition, page 491). This document, which…
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Covering Up Syn
Ex-Satanist Brings Confusion to Mormons and Their Critics By Jerald and Sandra Tanner In the late 1960s William Schnoebelen, a young man who had always wanted to be a priest in the Roman Catholic Church, decided to enter into the occult. On September 22, 1968 he became a “1st Degree (Gardnerian Tradition) Witch.” He later…
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Magic in Mormonism
A wealth of research shows that Joseph Smith was involved in magic practices, not just as a dabbling fancy, but to the point of incorporating them into his prophetic pursuits.
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Devils All Over?
By Jerald and Sandra Tanner In the March 1987 issue of the Messenger, we warned that some critics of the Mormon Church have become so obsessed with finding “Luciferian” influence in the temple ceremony that they have lost sight of reality. Since we published that article, things have gone from bad to worse. In a…
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Obsession With Lucifer?
Hugh Nibley zealously supported Mormonism, accepting Mark Hofmann’s forged Anthon transcript. Critics accused Mormons of calling on Lucifer in temple rituals with “pay lay ale,” but research suggests it means “Wonderful God,” not “Wonderful Lucifer.”
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Jesus a Magician?
By Jerald and Sandra Tanner In 1978 Dr. Morton Smith charged that Jesus had used a “magical formula” at the time of the “raising of Jairus’ daughter” (Jesus The Magician, page 95). In his attempt to excuse Joseph Smith for the role he played in the magic arts, Dr. D. Michael Quinn [BYU professor] tries…
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Joseph Smith’s Use of Magic Circles and Animal Sacrifice
By Jerald and Sandra Tanner As we indicated in the last newsletter, we are preparing a book entitled, Mormonism, Magic and Masonry. Because of the amount of material that has become available on this subject and because of typesetting problems and the time we have spent forming our non-profit corporation, we have not yet finished…
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Mormon Researcher Finds Smiths’ 1825 Money-Digging Agreement
By Jerald and Sandra Tanner In Lippincott’s Magazine we find this strange story about Joseph Smith’s money-digging activities in Pennsylvania: . . . On a wilderness hill . . . his peek-stone discovered a ton of silver bars . . . The third hole had been sunk fifteen out of the necessary twenty feet when the treasure once more jumped to…